Lalitpur joins UNESCO Creative Cities Network

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 8: Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) has earned the prestigious title of a UNESCO Creative City of Music and is now proudly part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).

At a press meet held on Thursday, it was informed that Lalitpur has become part of the UCCN, which now consists of 408 cities from over 100 countries worldwide, covering seven fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Literature, Music, Gastronomy, Media Arts, and Architecture.

Lalitpur is the oldest of the three major cities in the Kathmandu Valley. According to various research sources, the city is about 2,000 years old. The Buddhist stupas located in the four directions of the city, believed to date from the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka’s period, are from the third century BC.

Chiri Babu Maharajan, Mayor of LMC, informed that UNESCO declared Lalitpur a Creative City of Music on the occasion of World Cities Day on October 31. He said the metropolis has planned programms to ensure the city’s success in this field.

The Mayor said, "In the cultural city of Lalitpur, various festivals, devotional music (bhajans), dances, and hundreds of musical activities have traditionally been carried out. We aim to make this tradition more systematic through additional plans and programmes." He also expressed his commitment to establishing the Lalitpur Creative Arts Center through appropriate policy formulation.

Mayor Maharajan further stated that the metropolis will develop music as an industry, establish a music research center, archive, and training center, and promote music-related research, education, policy-making, and resource development.

Additionally, there are plans to include traditional, modern, and contemporary music genres in the school curriculum, initiate the declaration of Jestha Purnima as National Music Day, increase the participation of women, children, and people with disabilities in traditional instrumental music, and collaborate with musicologists on training, interaction, and the conservation of musical instruments.

Deputy Mayor Manjali Shakya Bajracharya said that employment opportunities will be created through musical skills, and traditional music will be promoted in Lalitpur, a city renowned for its confluence of art, music, and cultural festivals. She added that UNESCO’s recognition as a Creative City of Music has increased the motivation to work with greater enthusiasm.

Among the various intangible cultural heritages of Lalitpur City, its residents share an interdependent relationship with music. The daily life of every citizen begins with worship and the singing of hymns in temples. Additionally, traditional and folk instruments played on various occasions in the city are gaining popularity day by day. Moreover, new employment opportunities are being created through music and dance.